





























A FAIRY TALE 


HOW CUPID HELPED 
THE LITTLE GROWN 
PRINCE OF FAIRYLAND 


OR 


The Origin of Dimples 


By LOTTIE H. TAFT. 

n 


1903 

Press of FRANK M. ELEY 
SAN JOSE, CAL. 


pZz 

7f~l3 



I THE LIBRARY OF } 

V* * 

1 wo Copies Receiver 

OCT 22 *CC3 

C&pyn^nt tntfy 

0~"tA: lc\ n 5 

class C <. , 

y <? <r $- ^ 

COPY 3. i 


JT 

dur 1 «.V 

7 *-^ 

1 / •' 



Dedicated to Cupid, the Wee Cod of Love, 
and all the tiny dimpled darlings 
in the world. 


A Fairy Tale 


HE was a little German Princess, 
destined for an English Prince. 
She had bright, dark brown eyes, 
golden curls and a roseleaf skin. 
And she also had four golden 
summers and a shower of dimples 
all over her. 

“ Do you want me to tell you 
how dimples grew?” queried the American visitor, 
at whom she staled with very round eyes. 

The yellow cutis bobbed an assent, and the 
lips, like Cupid’s bow, puckered up like a little 
bag with a draw string. 

“Why! the little Crown Prince of Fairyland 
had no wife and wept because of it;” commenced 
the American lady, smiling. “ He had buds and 
bees and flower-blooms ; he had thistle-down and 
honey-pots ; he had fairy ponies and chariots ; he 
had rose-lined air-baskets to float the star-gemmed 
sky of Fairyland in ; he had little winged fairies 
to play with, fire-flies to amuse him, fairy tartlets 
of lemon freeze for mid-day luncheon ; chocolate 
drops grew upon the tree boughs like chestnuts ; 
ice cream and delicate patty-pan cakes were his 
at will, and spiced nectar is only drink, but 
— he wept. Wept bitterly for the little princess 
that was not. Just as though he was not Crown 
Prince of all Fairyland, but only a very human 
little boy. 



3 


Hi$ parents mourned; for lo ! his must be the 
task to replenish Fairyland with Crown Fairies 
for all time to come. No common task, for he was 
no common fairy, or no common mortal prince, but 
Crown Prince of Fairyland ! 

They sent abroad wise men to select, with 
great wisdom and judgment, a Fairy Princess 
meet enough for their little Crown Prince. But 
the wise men merely scanned heaven, looking no 
nearer earth than the nearest star for the fairy — 
and we all know the nearest star is a long way off. 
They scanned the heavens from center to circum- 
ference, scanning the milky way intently, thinking 
there surely would they find the little Princess. 

But cold stars twinkled and winked at them 
and the sturdy old planets shook their heads, 
saying solemnly : * We have plenty of angels, but 
no fairies in heaven.’ And the frisky little solar 
dipper shook its handle and said the same thing. 
Whereupon the grim old solar bear echoed sternly 
this counsel: ‘You most look to earth for earthly 
happiness and not bother heaven w 7 ith it, lest in 
having too great an interest in earth we lean for- 
ward and, losing our balance, tumble down upon 
the earth.’ 

Now, when the wise men heard this they 
marvelled much and were sore afraid, and they 
ran home as fast as their wise old legs could take 
them, fearing lest it would happen any way, and 
disliking to tempt Providence. 

They even misunderstood the planets, and, 
misinterpreting, counseled the parents to abandon 
the search for the little princess at once, saying : 
‘’Twas forbidden of God and that he was not to 
have this one forbidden fruit.’ Even quoting 
scripture to that effect. 


4 


But the little boy cried for his princess. 

The parents were sore troubled and pondered 
a long time, and then again consulted the wise men 
and questioned them closely. 

And taking hope and courage that, although 
the fairies might not be in heaven, they might be 
still upon earth, they sent out great armies of men 
of great courage and brave, armed with swoid and 
shield, helmet and battle-ax. 

But they found only close-barred turret castle, 
towering high above close-bolted gates of the cities 
whose walls were inaccessible. 

Now, as they had only come for a princess, 
and not for battle and bloody war, they silently 
and sadly withdrew, to again disappoint their king 
and queen and to set the little Crown Prince to 
weeping afresh* 

The queen, at this, took counsel with her maid, 
who was very wise and gifted with keen insight 
and magic ; and she besought her to send forth an 
ambassador, suave and guileful, because oft-times 
by diplomacy and sweet persuasion could victory 
be gained when and where battle-ax might fail, 
especially as the fairy battle-axes were not very 
large. 

Now all this seemed plausible to the queen 
and also to the king. So they sent ambassadors 
to all the countries round about Fairyland — 
ambassadors bold, fearless and true, who loved 
their king and queen and the little Crown Prince. 

But, like many noble, true men, they thought 
only of their beloved country and of the responsi- 
bilities, dignities and honors it had placed upon 
them, and felt shy about love affairs, and so hesi- 
tated, making business a pretext and thinking to 


5 


await chance to urge forward their little Crown 
Prince’s cause. 

Now this is not the true way to make love 
and gain Princesses, either little, big, mundane or 
fairy, as it so proved, for they succeeded in all 
they undertook save the cause for which they 
were sent. 

They made peace and good will from all coun- 
tries toward Fairyland. They even enlarged the 
boundaries of Fairyland, all being eager for it to 
invade their limits. This wish was so universal 
as to be wellnigh a unanimous proclamation. 

They widened the borders of Fairyland to 
such an extent that they were appalled and 
hurried home in an ecstacy of pride and delight to 
lay their trophies of friendliness at the feet of 
their beloved rulers, who listened earnestly. 

But when they had ceased their recital, the 
queen spoke, asking, with a troubled face, if they 
had brought word of the little Princess. 

They threw up their hands and rolled up 
their eyes. They had actually forgotten all about 
it!! 

The queen wept. 

The little Crown Prince howled. 

The king frowned. 

The gentlemen-of-the-bed-chamber shook their 
heads. 

The ladies-in-waiting sighed. 

But the statesmen were not altogether cast 
down, because they thought they had done their 
duty and achieved a great triumph and benefit, 
for they had enlarged Fairyland. 

The queen again took counsel with her maid> 
who consulted an ancient magic bracelet, and — 
throwing salt upon it and piercing rose leaves and 

6 


not being able to see anything through them but 
the salt before mentioned — she consulted her wits 
which helped her out a second time with an 
inspiration which at first appearance seemed so 
cute, so cunningly devised and feasible that the 
queen sobbed with joy in her arms. 

Put into words it was nothing more nor less 
than this : To send the sweetest, neatest, dainties, 
handsomest beaux in all Fairyland to the courts of 
all the countries round about, and there, amid 
maids and matrons, select this for which they 
sought ! 

The king smiled and pronounced favorably 
upon the plan. 

The lords and ladies-in-waiting fluttered about 
congratulating each other. 

Again the little Crown Prince dried his eyes, 
grown red with weeping, and, playing with the 
rose leaves, waited. 

There was much ado and commotion in Fairy- 
land getting ready, selecting and priming the 
beaux to be sent. 

The queen, wishing to repair, if possible, the 
mistakes she had previously made, would have 
none but the most bewilderingly fascinating, 
the most heart-enthralling fairy beaux to be had, 
as well as the most magnetically hypnotic. 

Now this caused weeping and wailing and 
gnashing of teeth — or rather pearls, for fairies 
don’t have teeth — as it always does when love 
affairs are handled by any save the two principal 
constituents thereof. 

For these same beaux left a vacuum in Fairy- 
land, as is generally the case when the most 
fascinating beau leaves any fairyland. 

But the belles of Fairyland must needs dry 


7 


their tears, lest they bring a flood upon Fairyland 
and wash it all away. The lake of glass and the 
pink water, where the fairy buds grow and the 
maidens steal to meet their lovers by fairy moon- 
light, rose to such an extent that they had to build 
a dam of gauze and fasten the floodgate thereof 
with a padlock of pink pearls, lest it overflow the 
queen’s bed of pink cabbages of which she was 
very fond, but whose natural color she disliked; 
so, lest it offend her, each leaf was painted some 
delicate scene or color, making it a delight to 
behold, hence the reason why they did not wish it 
to be inundated and thereby destroyed. 

The procession of gallant knights and courtiers 
at last set sail in a fairy air-boat of silver and rose- 
colored cloud riveted together with diamond screws 
delicately and wonderfully fashioned by fairy 
workmen skilled in the art ; and the sails thereof 
were of sunlight sprinkled with star dust, gorgeous 
to behold ; the spars of which were solid shafts 
of sunlight, held in place by glistening ropes of 
purest silver cobweb starred with the teardrops of 
the weeping fairies whose gallant knights were 
going afar, and spun, not by plebian spiders, but 
by fairy maids, coy and sweet, from the same webs 
which they wove to entrap the ones they loved 
best. No other webs than these were pro- 
nounced, by the fairy sailmakers, strong enough 
to withstand other planetary attractions. The 
monogram and crest of the fairies, and also the 
private one of the king and queen were encrusted 
with jewels upon the bow. The pennant and 
national flag of the fairies waved proudly from the 
masthead. This flag was composed of all the 
loveliest, faithful glances which were ever be- 
Stovyed upon the king and que§q by their devoted 

3 


subjects. The pennant was made of the loveliest 
of all the love glances which the king had bestowed 
upon the queen in their courtship, and which she 
had graciously loaned for this occasion. 

As the last gallant entered the fairy maids 
severed the cable which held it to Fairyland. 
There was a scramble for the last look and the 
lovebuds, much as though it had been a mere 
common earthly excursion. As the fairy air-boats 
slowly floated aloft, the anchor and cables, com- 
posed of flowers, were drawn in, the fairies wav- 
ing their handkerchiefs like a minature perfumed 
sea. 

And all the masculine fairies cheered the star- 
gemmed float and doffed their hats. (The fairies 
wore hats fashioned of twinkling diamond stars). 

All the banners of Fairyland were unfurled. 

And all the nobles and gentry gathered 
around about the little Crown Prince, tendering 
him their congratulations and shaking hands with 
him and bowing most reverently to the king and 
queen. 

But fairies must find, as in more commonplace 
love affairs, there are contingencies an 3 unexpected 
emergencies, brought on by conditions, circum- 
stances and characteristics which make caution 
preferable to conviction ; or, as one stated it, ‘The 
best laid plans o’ mice an’ men aft gang aglee.’ 
To use a Yankeeism, ‘ Best not crow until you 
get out of the woods.’ 

But the dear little fairies did not know all 
this. No one does until afterwards. 

Now the rose-colored knights from Fairyland 
were hailed with much ado and delight by all 
countries. Even mighty kings and queens bent 


9 


the knee before them and, listening, gave heed to 
their speech. 

But alack ! alas ! The gallant knights from 
Fairyland found so much to admire and fall in love 
with, that they forgot all about the poor little 
Crown Prince at home, and, thinking he was 
young and could wait, they ‘made hay while the 
sun shone.’ 

They wined and dined, feted and feasted until 
they grew well nigh corpulent. 

They sent home glowing accounts to Fairy- 
land, but, wily as any common beau, they said 
they were waiting for the crowning star of this 
diadem to appear. 

For a time the queen read these tidings with 
great joy ; but, as time wore on she grew restless 
and ceased reading them to the king. 

The descriptions of these great beauties and 
pleasant times shook all Fairyland to the founda- 
tion ; even the flower cups were so agitated as to 
tremble. 

But by-and-by h?r woman’s intuition made 
her serious and increased her understanding. 

Besides this, her maid had been able to see 
something besides salt through her rose leaves. 

But the queen waited patiently ; more 
patiently than did the little Crown Prince. 

By-and-by the naughty knights from Fairy- 
land grew homesick; as naughty knights will. 
They had eaten enough and danced enough and 
played enough, and wanted to be taken home. 

There was sad lamentation among all the 
court dames and beauties, for never had they met 
such perfection of courtly grace and dignity, such 
fascinating, thrilling witchery in all the wide 


io 


circle of their lives, as were in these brave knights 
of Fairyland. 

But the ungallant, ungrateful knights, instead 
of being flattered and proud thereof, were rather 
bored ; and scarce remembering the little Crown 
Prince and the much-needed Princess, hied away 
home with homesick alacrity, playing the Fairies’ 
National hymn with undue gusto and ardor. 

Now great and plausible was the recital, and 
great was the queen’s patience in listening thereto; 
but wheu ’twas finished and the knights were 
awaiting her gracious leave to arise from bended 
knee (for they were perspiring violently) she 
asked them gravely ‘If they had not broken the 
first commandment.’ 

For you know, in Fairyland, the first com- 
mandment is: ‘Thou shalt have no other Gods 
before me.’ 

They wept many tears and made many pro- 
testations, but confessed candidly that they had 
had such a good time ‘ that they clean forgot the 
rest.’ 

Now no cruelties are practiced in Fairyland, 
so they met no dire punishment, only the sad, 
grieved eyes of the queen and the tears of the 
dear little Crown Prince, which was quite sorrow 
enough for them. And they didn’t wear a gay- 
colored necktie, nor cull a fairy bloom, nor pay a 
compliment, for the sad space of several hours; 
and everybody knows how dreadfut that was. 

And all were urgent for them to cheer up, 
and pick up courage to cheer the others, who were 
all downhearted and dispirited and despondent, 
not only on account of the gallant knights’ short- 
comings, and the consequent sorrow of the poten- 
tates, but, also, because they hadn’t paid them any 


ii 


compliments ; and you know it is pitiful to see a 
fairy broken hearted. 

Even the king relented and besought them 
earnestly to lift the mental crape from Fairyland. 

So, soon all Fairyland was aglow and a glitter 
with fairy lamps and fireflies, gay diamond and 
jeweled stars cut from the tails of comets which 
wagged too near Fairyland. Some had been cut 
by the queen’s own scissors. And sweet, happy, 
gaily dressed, flower-decked fairies fluttered hither 
and thither, bearing wands and blending with the 
delicate tints of Fairyland into scenes of exquisite 
beauty. 

Even the queen smiled and the king frowned 
less and less. 

But the dear little Prince sat by his little 
flowerbed of pinks and blue eyed forget-me-nots 
and wept. 

Now Cupid, chancing to pass through Fairy- 
land, spied him and questioned the cause of his 
grief. 

The dear little Prince told him the doleful 
story: ‘There was no little F'airy Princess for him 
in all Fairyland! They had sought afar and the 
soldiers sent, but found bars and bolts.’ 

Cupid laughed. 

‘ The statesmen sent were clumsy and didn’t 
know how to make love,’ continued the grieved 
little Prince dolefully. 

Cupid put his little thumb to his little nose 
and wagged it. 

‘The wise men sent caught glimpse of not 
one single fairy in all the heavens.’ * 

Cupid giggled and skipped. 

‘And the beaux sent had flirted and larked 
and loved and had left him to mourn alone.’ 


12 


Now Cupid, being short on reverence (as all 
Cupids are) rolled himself abont upon the pinks 
and blue-eyes, gathering up their perfume and 
girding it all about him. 

‘ Why do you mock me?’ queried the little 
Prince angrily. “ I am seriously heartbroken. 
Have you ever been in love ?” sorrowfully. 

‘Oh! a great many times,’ said Cupid, 
honestly. 1 am always in love. I wouldn’t be 
out of love for anything, for without love there is 
no happiness.” 

‘Then you know how unhappy I am,’ sobbed 
the little Prince, ‘for I have never been in love.’ 

Now upon this Cupid took compassion upon 
him, and, promising to aid him, prepared to run 
away. 

‘Nay, stay!’ cried the little Prince, detaining 
him. ‘How shall I know but you will play me 
false like my own people did? Surely, surely, if 
the heroes and beaux from Fairyland cannot with- 
stand temptation, how can I depend on a little boy 
like you?’ 

But Cupid protested valliantly, swearing by 
his little cross-bow and darts; and the little Prince 
would fain believe in him, knowing well, or fear- 
ing, that it was like unto the case of the plebian 
Monsieur Hobson, of whom he had heard. Still 
detaining Cupid, for strange to say, though he 
scarce had confidence in him, he liked to have him 
around (like unto common mortals), tie parleyed 
with him, saying: 

‘ How know I but you will keep the prettiest 
one for yourself and bring me only a real homely 
one who will scold me when I smile upon my little 
comrade fairies at play?’ 

‘Oh!’ said Cupid coolly, ‘I shall not bring 


i3 


her to you at all. I will only find her for you, and, 
leaving my mark upon her, will leave it for you to 
find and bring her home when you have grown 
to manhood.’ 

This interested the little Prince greatly, but, 
like lots of other princes, he would like to have 
had his wishes granted at once. 

But Cupid argued stoutly that if she were 
grown up she would not scold him if he played 
with his little fairy comrades, for, being grown up 
himself, he would not play with them. 

Now this sounded plausible enough, for he 
loved his little playmates dearly. 

‘But how shall I know her when I see her?’ 
queried he, his sorrow already half assuaged by 
the anticipation of a journey into that world which 
the gallant beaux had described so admiringly. 

‘ I will shoot her with my little cross-bow and 
arrow,’ said wily Cupid, ‘and it will leave a 
mark, and by that mark ye shall know her.’ 

But the little Prince was in distress lest the 
arrow strike some fatal spot and she die and leave 
him forever lonely. And his tears burst out afresh. 

But Cupid assured him he would only hit her 
in the chin and in both cheeks, promising faithfully 
not to t hit her in the heart, leaving that for him 
to do. 

‘ But I am afraid her face will be all scarred 
up,’ said the little Prince, only half mollified. 

But Cupid argued that his scars were always 
invisible and ’twould only leave a little dent in the 
cheek and chin the size of a pearl for him to lay 
his little finger in. 

‘Oh, ho!’ laughed the little Prince delighted. 
‘ Dent pearls! My mamma has one in her chin 
and I have often put my little finger into it.’ 


14 


‘I shot it there/ said Cupid stoutly. ‘And 
that is how the fairy king knew his fairy queen/ 

‘I don’t think you were born then/ said the 
little Prince, eying him soberly, ‘ I wasn’t and I 
am larger than you/ 

But Cupid ignored the reflection upon his 
age, for, like a great many people, he wanted to 
appear and be thought young, but he wanted all 
the respect and deference due to great age and 
wisdom. 

Wishing to turn the subject and not caring to 
explain, he said: ‘Now I may find a great many 
very sweet little fairies, nobly fit to mate with 
thee, so I this covenant will make with you’ — 
piling up a little pile of crystal pebbles and 
sprinkling them with dew from the heart of a 
flower-cup. ‘She who is very sweet, pure and 
lovable I will shoot an arrow in her chin; she who 
is extra lovable, sweet and pure I will shoot an 
arrow in each cheek; but she who is for you will 
have one in each cheek and also one upon the 
chin.’ 

‘ But supposing she should be a great deal 
more extra lovable than thatV shouted the little 
Prince, carried away with the idea. 

‘Then I will aim at the corners of her sweet 
little lips/ laughed Cupid, showing his own dim- 
ples therein. 

‘And couldn’t you find room for still more?’ 
inquired the little boy earnestly. 

‘ Her little hands are all that would be bare 
of her/ said Cupid, shaking his head. 

‘The insides of them wouldn’t show, just the 
outside,’ cautioned the little Prince. 

‘Yes/ assented Cupid. 


i5 


‘And her shoulders!’ cried the Prince, turn g 
ing a summersault. 

But, bringing himself up suddenly and detain- 
ing Cupid, who was about to fly off: “How do I 
know you will do all this?” he demanded sternly 
for so little a fellow. 

‘ I give you ray arrow to shoot me with when 
I come back if I fail of my errand,’ spoke Cupid, 
giving the little Crown Prince a twinkling gem- 
jewel of rose color and of the etherial softness of 
eiderdown, softly charged with the most delicious 
electricity and sweetened with an Angel’s kiss. 

‘ I shouldn’t think it would hurt much,’ said 
he little boy, testing it and not noticing that with- 
out the cross-bow the little arrow cannot fly. 

Cupid laughed knowingly. ‘ It kills, sometimes,’ 
he said softly. 

‘Poisonous?’ said the little Prince, throwing 
it down. 

‘ Sometimes,’ laughed Cupid wickedly. 

‘When? How?’ spoke the little boy softly, 
picking it up again, kissing it and holding it 
caressingly in his hand. ‘ I love it already.’ 

‘Wait!’ he calls, as Cupid flies away. You 
need a passport.’ 

But Cupid laughs at locksmiths. 

‘ What rank have you?’ called the little boy. 

‘ Your name?’ 

But Cupid laughed at rank and name and 
naughty Cupid flew away. 

The little boy ran to his mother, and, showing 
her the arrow, told her all about his interview with 
the little unknown Cupid. 

And when his mother heard that Cupid had 
the finding of her little son’s Princess in charge, 
she smiled well content, and bid him be of good 

16 


cheer, he would well be happy if he followed 
Cupid’s dart. But when he asked her about the 
dent pearl in her chin she smiled and blushed, and, 
glancing up at the king standing by, said: ‘ask 
him.’ 

‘Yes, ’twas by that mark I found you,’s poke 
the king, bending over and kissing the queen 
upon the pearl’s dent. 

‘Oh!’ shouted the little boy, almost losing his 
little arrow in his haste to get out and dance upon 
the green, ‘all hail to dent pearls! dent pearls!’ 

Now all the little fairies took up the cry and 
joined in the dance without quite knowing what 
they were saying, or why they rejoiced. 

And, in time, the cry grew to demp pearls and 
then to dimples, which it has remained ever since. 

And all the fairies made an image of Cupid 
from the sifted and condensed likeness and sweet- 
ness of all the Fairyland beaux, and called it the 
god of love, and crowned him with roses and wor- 
shipped at his shrine; and I don’t think that even 
our great big God was very angry at them. I 
think he only smiled and said: ‘Fairies will be 
fairies.’ And, after all, God is love. 

Meanwhile, Cupid in his search, found so 
many dear little girls who were sweet, pure and 
lovable, that the twang of his little cross-bow was 
heard throughout the land — for Cupid, you know, 
can find charms hidden to even the most discerning 
mortals. 

And those who heard the twang of his little 
cross-bow looked about them curiously, knowing 
well that fairy brownies and their ilk do flit about, 
brewing sad havoc among lives with love spells 
and magic. 

But only when Cupid did withdraw his arrow 


17 


from the little chins did they discover the mischief 
he had wrought, for the dear little girls ran to 
their mothers in sad grief and tears for them to 
heal Cupid’s wound with a kiss; for we all know 
that that is the only way to heal such wounds, 
which might prove fatal otherwise; and finding 
the dimple they kissed it oft, knowing full well 
that the god of love, or some such sprite, had not 
left such a bewitching mark as that for no purpose. 

As time wore on, Cupid drifted and floated, 
now here, now there, sending a scattering rattle 
of arrows into older hearts by the wayside, for 
Cupid, you know, will be Cupid in spite of every- 
thing, and is a bit wicked at times, but I believe 
the elders liked it, no matter how rattled they felt, 
for they had all learned what Cupid knew full 
well, that we can all love many times when we 
are grown and not take it amiss. 

Now as he drifted and floated, now among 
rosebuds, now among heather bells, now among 
eiderdown cribs, he found those who were extra 
sweet, pure and lovable, and so both dear little 
cheeks had to suffer as well. 

By-and-by he found those who were a great 
deal more than extra sweet, pure and lovable, and 
into their cheeks, chin and rosebud lips he shot 
his naughty arrows, sometimes brushing away their 
tears with the mantle of fragrance he had brought 
with him from the garden of the Fairy' Prince. 

And at night, as they lay in their downy beds, 
Cupid came and trod upon the counterpane, cogi-‘ 
tating within himself which should be for the 
Fairy Prince; for to tell the truth they were all 
so sweet and lovable, and you know Cnpid is no 
respecter of persons or parsons. And as he stood 
there, the tiny hands and e’en the snow white 

18 


shoulders caught his arrows from the cross-bow 
sent. And sometimes they moaned a bit in their 
sleep, as people will when Cupid, all unknown, 
holds sway and makes havoc with his shafts — for 
Cupid’s wounds are hard to bear e’en in dreams 
and dreamland. But he kissed them all away 
himself, bringing smiles— for smiles and tears are 
all the same to Cupid — and, lest he stay too long — 
for Cupid has a horror of dwelling long even 
upon the most enchanting grace, (ungrateful 
withal) liking variety and spice, uncertainty being 
necessary to him— he flew away and away. And, 
tired of nothing to do, and a bit bored with inno- 
cence, and purity, he looked about him prepared 
for almost any hap. 

‘Ah! here’s a go,’ cooed naughty Cupid, 
creeping cautiously forward, in and out between 
the star-gemmed grass blades and drawing his 
mantle of fragrance about him, lest the dampness 
of the dew cause him to contract ‘la grippe.’ 
‘Ah! here’s a go.’ 

’Twas a larger princess and she had found 
her fairy prince, of which fact he was more sure 
than she. Sometimes men are more sure of things 
than women and sometimes vice versa. 

Do you know what vice versa is? inquired 
the American lady of the round eyed little German 
Princess.” 

“It’s when you put a tat upside down,” she 
answered, reversing pussy to exemplify her remark. 

The lady smiled and continued : 

“Now Cupid does not like to see people too 
sure of anything; either too sure they do want 
some one, as in the man’s case, or too sure they 
do not want some one, as in the woman’s case. So 
he teased them both until they didn’t know 


19 


whether they wanted each other of not, or some- 
body else, or not, and they didn’t know what was 
the matter with themselves anyway. 

Now it came to pass that the poor, pretty lady 
cried, and the gallant, adoring knight waxed 
vehement and argumentative. He gesticulated 
wildly, as men will when their coolness and reason 
are leaving them. In so doing he broke the string 
to Cupid’s little cross-bow. 

Cupid, in a fright, set about to mend it. A 
very hard task to do when you take into consider- 
ation Cupid’s bow string is made of a narrow, 
thread-like glint of starlight, shot from one partic- 
ular star, and that star — the lover’s star — has to be 
in just the right condition or it cannot work the 
miracles and magic which is its due. 

As Cupid hunted for this particular star-beam 
the knight again fell at the lady’s feet pleading 
most earnestly to let him love her, e’en if she slew 
him. 

When Cupid returned, successful, from his 
search, the knight had the lady in his arms and 
she was weeping softly upon his shoulder. 

‘They’ll have it made up before I can get 
this mended,’ growled Cupid, sitting cross-legged, 
mending his little bow. 

Now it chanced that Cupid was a true prophet, 
for, in his search for the star-beam he had gotten 
another tangled in his hair and didnt know it. It 
was a beam from the star of Prophecy, called by 
the Magi, Shadow-light, because, when this star is 
in aphelion, coming events cast their shadows 
before, but when in perihelion it casts them 
behind, or aft. 

And ’twas even so. Before Cupid got his 
little bow mended they had ‘made up;’ showing 


20 


’twere best to always make up quickly, lest Cupid’s 
bow, or some other, part people forever. 

Cupid frowned. 

‘Oh! I feel as though I had offended the god 
of love!’ exclaimed the knight, holding the lady 
still closer. 

(So he had, for Cupid was frowning furiously, 
but not in the mauner in which he thought, or 
meant). 

‘They’re making up too easily,’ grumbled 
Cupid. ‘ I havn’t had any fun.’ 

‘I shall never, never quarrel with you again, 
beloved,’ cooed the knight, softly caressing the 
many places where the dimples ought to be. 

Cupid smiled. ‘Wait till my little cross-bow 
is fixed and then see!’ he muttered, ‘for in whoso- 
ever’s name I shoot, he or she shall be thy love.’ 

‘O, let us away!’ sobbed the lady. ‘This 
place grieves me. In it I have seen my greatest 
sorrow.’ 

‘And greatest bliss?’ queried the knight, 
looking roguishly down into her upturned eyes. 

‘ My greatest bliss shall be when I am your 
wife,’ she murmured softly. 

Now upon this the knight again kissed her 
and vowed she should; whilst Cupid, stopping to 
look, forgot his little cross-bow and let them get 
away. 

‘ Well, I guess that was true love, anyhow,’ 
he said, consoling himself, ‘and they didn’t need 
me.’ 

Showing ’tis always well, if possible, to get 
along without a third party in love affairs, even 
Cupid — and true love really can if let alone and not 
tortured. And it also showed ’tis best to find some 


21 


consolation in every disappointment, as did Cupid 
in this. 

‘Better luck next time!’ he shouted trium- 
phantly, kicking his little pink legs preparatory to 
to taking a fly. 

Now Cupid longed to try his little cross-bow 
to see if it would work, so, seeing an aged couple 
he took careful aim to hit the mark. 

Ping — went the arrow, hitting the old lady. 

‘My sakes !’ she exclaimed, looking up 
brightly at the old gentleman. But the old gentle- 
man hadn’t been hit, so dozed unconsciously on, 
in a deep revery. 

“‘ I feel just as young and lovesick as when I 
was a girl!’ said the old lady, beaming at him 
through her specks. 

‘Oh, yes! it’s well to dwell a bit on old times,’ 
returns the old gentleman, rousing himself indif- 
ferently. 

Unheeding, Cupid stood twanging his bow- 
string. Finding it grown a bit loose he waits to 
stay it. 

The old man lapsed into silence. 

Twang! again went the bow-string. 

‘Ah, yes!’ exclaimed the old gentleman, look- 
ing up and brushing his cheek, shot red by the 
glancing arrow. ‘ How young and pretty you 
look, my dear,’ he exclaimed, bending down and 
kissing her withered cheek. ‘ What a long time 
we have been married, and yet I feel as young 
and rose-colored and romantic as when a lad. Do 
you remember how I tried to kiss you through the 
hedge and we both got scratched?’ 

‘ It works,’ quoth Cupid softly, capering off. 

Now as he twinkled away it came to pass 
he came upon a dear little girl who was just taking 


22 


her bath. She was so beautiful! She had bright 
brown eyes,” said the lady, smiling, “and golden 
curls and a little, round, alabaster form, whose 
whiteness showed she must be white and pure all 
the way through. There wasn’t a blemish upon 
her anywhere. 

‘Oh! That's for the little Crown Prince of 
Fairyland,’ exclaimed Cupid excitedly, and seizing 
his ever ready cross-bow, he commenced aiming 
his arrows. 

The little girl looked all around to see where 
the arrows could come from; chin, cheeks, corners 
of her lips and e’en her tiny hands were full. 

‘Oh! isn’t he tunning! Isn’t he tweet!' she 
cried, spying Cupid and his little cross-bow and 
running toward him with both arms outstretched. 

Now Cupid, not wishing to be captured — for, 
as we have said before, no matter how great the 
charm, no Cupid wishes to remain long in a place 
— and fearing lest he succumb and be captured 
because of this little princess’ charms, he shot his 
darts at her little twinkling feet, thereby staying 
her progress. 

Now this was too bad. The little girl turned 
weeping to her mother, showing Cupid’s many 
wounds, and crying aloud against them. But as 
she ran, Cupid emptied his little quiver full of 
arrows into her back and shoulders. 

Then Cupid danced in glee at the plight of 
the disabled little Princes; the moonlight bells on 
his mantle of pink perfume tinkled joyfully. 

‘Completely stove in!’ he laughed, clapping 
his hands. 

‘I isn’t mad a bit, I’s only hurt,’ sobbed 
the little wounded Princess, clinging to her 


23 


mother. ‘ I love him, even if he did hurt me,’ she 
adds.” 

(Ah, little girl, we all do that, and e’en did 
the Saviour so). 

“Suddenly Cupid remembered he had not an 
arrow left in his quiver. He held it up to the 
light and shook it. Not a single arrow remained. 

Now this was a great inconvenience, for they 
were made from the pink cloud of morning, that 
of the evening not having the same strength and 
vigor. 

He examined his quiver closely. (It was 
made of the gossamer fairies spin out of love por- 
tions when they get too strong and bubble over). 
No arrow rewarded his search and there was 
nothing to do but to pluck those out of the little 
Princess, and this he feared to do, lest, if he 
approach too closely, he become entangled in her 
spell and remain with her. (Showing that no 
matter how invincible a Cupid may be, there are 
dangers even for Cupid). 

But, on the other hand, to wait all day long 
and all night for the first and third pink of the 
morning sky was dreadful. Not to shoot an arrow 
in all day! And all night! This was a predica- 
ment Cupid cared not to face. Besides, there was 
the time it would take to make them. And he 
had left his scissors (made from some clippings off 
from the lover’s star) up in the clouds one day 
when he was trying to cut a hole through a cloud 
which hid that star. Rememdering this he deter- 
mined to get at least a few of his arrows back 
again. 

So, approaching the little Princess cautiously, 
he began to remove them, one by one, from her 
shoulders. 


24 


The poor little Princess was clinging to her 
mother and crying piteously, as little maidens are 
apt to do when struck by Cupid’s shaft. 

Now she sobbed so pitifully and so sweetly 
withal that Cupid took compassion on her, and 
kissing each little arrow wound, he healed it with 
a dimple. In doing so, though, a great love for 
the little Princess came over him and he petted 
her softly and determined to always remain true 
to her. 

Turning softly round about, the little Princess 
disclosed the many arrow wounds upon her hands 
and little tear-stained face. 

Cupid gathered those from her hands first, 
kissing both oft and soft the wounds, leaving them 
the fullest of dent-pearls a baby’s hands had ever 
been. 

Plucking those from cheeks and lips and chin 
he essayed to put them in the quiver, when the 
little Princess inquired what that was, and, peering 
in, dropped it full of star-bright tears. 

‘Oh! oh!’ cried Cupid, putting his little hand 
over the quiver and hopping about, ‘ now I have 
something to take back to the Fairy Prince!’ 

‘But I want my pretty tears back again,’ 
sobbed the little girl. ‘ They belong to me.’ 

‘No,’ said Cupid stoutly, ‘they belong to the 
little Prince; let him take care of them.’ 

But the little Princess evidently thought fair 
exchange was no robbery, for she looked rather 
wistfully at the two little twinkling stars in 
Cupid’s coronet; they were very brilliant and 
precious, having been left there as a reward of 
merit to Cupid for lending aid to Eve in helping 
her to catch Adam in Paradise — that being a 
difficult task to accomplish, he being innocent and 


25 


she unskilled in the art of flirtation. So, seeing 
Cupid roaming aimlessly around, she adjured him 
to assist her, and, nothing loath to subject Adam 
and subde him, he being the only man present or 
available, he, Cupid, lent no end of valuable 
assistance. For this Eve had cast a glance of 
approbation at Cupid from both her eyes, and they 
had landed upon the top of Cupid’s little head 
glistening with unwonted brilliancy. 

Now the love bird of Paradise, seeing those 
two twinkling drops, sighed for them as eggs to 
sit upon and hatch, and so sought to pluck them 
off and gather them to herself with her claws* 
Now in so doing she described a circle, or half 
moon, about Cupid’s head with the claw of her 
magic forefinger, which struck ’gainst the first glint 
of starlight from the lover’s star, which, as the world 
and the star were new, had taken it all that while 
to alight on Paradise — for, you know, earthly 
Paradise was as far from Heaven then as it is now. 
Now, this first glint being struck with the love 
bird’s magic finger, slanted off and performed a half 
circle, or crescent, now called coronet, upon 
Cupid’s little head. That is why the moon is of 
so much moment tn love affairs. And that is how 
Cupid came to be so powerful an agent in love 
affairs, because he was baptized and crowned by 
the lover’s star, the love bird of Paradise ordaining 
him (unconsciously as it were) showing that many, 
in fact, a great many of our good deeds, are done 
unconsciously. And as it was done covetously, 
withal, that spirit of covetousness still marks all 
Cupid’s deeds. He cannot shoot an arrow without 
the one receiving the wound coveting the one in 
whose name it was shot. 

Now as Cupid gave these two priceless gems 

26 


from his diadem to the dear little Princess, he told 
her to have them set and wear them as ear drops, 
and whenever they twinkled she would receive 
approbation from every one who gazed upon her. 

Now the little Princess was very much 
pleased at this, for she was a dear little girl and 
loved to have all those about her whom she loved, 
love her. 

So she receive the gems gratefully, promising 
faithfully to do as he bade her. 

So Cupid, holding his quiver full of tears and 
his hand full of arrows, hied himself away, leaving 
the gems of his diadem behind him. 

This is why Cupid’s escapades since have not 
always been looked upon with favor, because he 
had given away the approbative glance which Eve 
had given him, and he had never since been able 
to find a glance quite so bright as that one shed in 
the world’s early light by the first woman who 
ever looked upon him. 

Proving that the first woman who approves 
of us with unqualified approbation, is always 
the one who sets a crown upon us. And it 
also shows why, in the merry olden time, love 
was love and not a business arrangement, or a 
disagreeable temptation to avoid doing one’s duty* 
or a barrier to gaining higher intellectual growth’ 
as is now often the case. 

But Cupid did not grieve for them ; it only 
showed how much he loved the little Prince of 
Fairyland. And, after all, in Fairyland we will 
find them again, those same little twinkling drops, 
twinkling in the ears of the much-sought-after, 
much coveted little Fairy Queen. 

For Cupid hied him away and away, nor 
Stopping until he reached the little Fairy Prince: 

27 


not shooting a single arrow in all the way, lest he 
lose one precious tear out of his quiver full for the 
little Crown Prince. 

Now the dear little Prince of Fairyland 
listened to all that Cupid said of the little prin- 
cesses with wounds in their cheeks, chins and lips. 
It was a marvelous tale. How his little hands 
clasped and his bright eyes sparkled with interest; 
and oh! how he wished he were out in this world 
of dimpled sweetness! he could love every one of 
them! ! 

But when he came to the last little Princess 
and her quiver full of tears, his own fell in sym- 
pathy, and he even chided Cupid for being so 
cruel to his dear little Princess, who was so sweet 
and bore it all so patiently — for he looked already 
upon her as his, and would listen no more to the 
tales of the others, but bade Cupid tell him again 
and again of this dear little girl and how she 
looked and what she said. 

And again his tears fell at the recital, and he 
even examined the place in Cupid’s coronet 
whence the two bright gems had been plucked, 
and in so doing two of his own tears fell in their 
place, and, sticking fast, linked Cupid forever to 
Fairyland. 

These tears are why more people weep now 
than smile when Cupid shoots them. 

And the little Prince counted the tears in the 
quiver, counting them over and over, dreaming of 
the little Princess who was to come to him, who 
was to be his, counting and telling them over and 
over — counting and dreaming of the dear little 
Princess whom he was some day to find, who was 
one day to come to him — dreaming and counting 
them over and over. He told the bright tears like 

38 


a rosary, fearing lest he should lose a single teat, 
begging Cupid’s quiver to keep them in. He 
named them all — pure, sweet, bright drops — 
Purity, Patience, Innocence, Guilelessness, Sweet- 
ness, Kindness, Truth, Faithfulness, Generosity, 
Good Temper, Serenity, Harmony, Charity, Cour- 
tesy, Tenderness, Love, Humility, Unselfishness. 

And as he held them in his hand, not one 
single blemish marred their brilliancy, and their 
bright rays shot up as though in glad promise that 
one day all should be his.” 

As the American visitor finished her story, 
her glance fell upon the little German Princess 
lying sound asleep with her reversed “tat” upon 
the floor. 

But the queen mother sat erect, listening. 


the; end. 



V 




